CHAPTER ONE

                        1.1 BACKGROUNDE OF THE STUDY.

The importance of having a solid background in mathematics is very well recognized as it serves as a getaway to future profession in a variety of field(Tella 2008;Pondor2006;Deklerk welters cited by Kurt et al.2002).mathematics is one of most essential subject in school curriculum at all levels of education. It has been one of the requirements for admission into higher institution of learning. Mathematics competence is an essential component in preparing numerate citizens for employment and it is needed to ensure the production of highly-skilled persons required by industry, science and technology (Mikulski 2001).

Kruletskil (1976) in Nnaji (1984:6) stated that, mathematical models method and styles of thinking have penetrated every field of knowledge. Recent developments in mathematics have shown that the knowledge of the subject penetrates into the remote areas of the humanities

Agreeing with that, (NTCM, Steen2001, and Kahn2001) said that, the world technological advance today involves a solid mathematical background which leads to job opportunities in the world. At its most basic levels, mathematics is a requirement for science, computer technology and engineering courses. This is based on the fact that from home to the work place, technological tools have become part of our day-to-day live activities.

 According to Steen (2001), mathematics does not only empower people with the capacity to control their lives but also provide science a firm foundation for effective theories; it also guarantees society of vigorous economy.

Also, according to (Ojose 2011), Mathematics is very important in our daily lives since it deals with real life situations in our daily activities. Looking at the general public consciously, everyone is involved in mathematical process every day. The house wife as she shops, the wages earner as they calculate their salaries, the labourer as he estimate his wages.

Mathematics is a subject much feared by the majority and infact, many people run away from it. But then it is a subject that is indispensible for any scientific and technological advancement to which our nation is commited.therefore, the people of it country need enlightment to enable student to have intelligent understanding of the increasing complexity of the technology.

Students find mathematics difficult when it is taught by a teacher who cannot explain clearly, who does not review or does not assign. What is needed from the teacher i is the real interest in the teaching of the subject, a knowledge of the child’s mind and his way of learning and true understanding of the fundamental mathematics ideas so that student will appreciate the usefulness of mathematics in their daily life activities.

 Against such a background, the researcher is trying to find out whether teachers qualification as a factor has influence on students performance in mathematics in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.

                    1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The importance of mathematics in nation building cannot be over emphasized. But massive failures in tests and terminal examinations with reference to senior secondary certificate examination (SSCE) have shown poor performance in the subject. It is generally a believed that mathematics is one of the most difficult (if not the most difficult) subject in the school. The mention of it sends many students particularly the female students panicking. Many people have blamed the mass failure on the low qualification on mathematics teachers. The problem of this research is to find out if the low qualification of teachers has an effect on the poor performance of students in mathematics in kwande local government of Benue state.

                               1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY.

The purpose of this research is to

1. Find out if mathematics teachers inculcate only in the students the skills of imagination, appreciation and order which accompany mathematics
2. Investigate if mathematics is introduced to the students in an interesting method to help them see the subject as a language of investigating the nature of things we deal with in science, technology and engineering. to make what we study in mathematics  real to life
3. If the skills introduced in number one and two above are not introduced to the students, to find out reason for the non-introduction

               1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research work will be of importance to students as it will enable them to identify the factors responsible for poor performance in mathematics.

The finding of this research will help the government to work into the teaching and learning of mathematics, which could enable her, put in more effort to sponsor more teachers into higher institution of learning to have a good training in mathematics. The study will of course motivate the teachers to go for more training to higher institution in their subject area.

           1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In other to investigate the influence of teacher qualification on student’s performance in mathematics in some selected post-primary schools in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, the following research questions are formulated to guide the researcher:

       I. Do teachers inculcate early in the students the skills of imagination, appreciation and order which accompany mathematics?

    II.            Is mathematics introduced the students in an interesting method to help them see the subject as a language of investigating the nature of things we deal with in science, technology and engineering?

                         1.6 HYPOTHESIS

The following hypothesis has been formulated to guide the researcher.

1. Teacher’s qualification has no significant relation to student’s performance in mathematics.
2. Teacher’s qualification has significant relation to student’s performance in mathematics.

  1.7 SCOPE AND DELIMITION OF THE STUDY.

This study is restricted to four (4) secondary schools in kwande local government area of Benue state, randomly selected for this purpose. The secondary schools selected are;

1. Turan community secondary school Jato-Aka (TCSS),
2.  NKST secondary school Jato-Aka (NKST.SS),
3. Korinjo memorial secondary school Nzaav Div (KMSS) and
4. Sacred heart secondary school Adikpo (SHSS).

These schools were selected randomly and the numbers of students involved in the study were four hundred (300).

An extension of this study to cover more schools would have given boarder and concrete ideas of problems in question. Since it was assumed that secondary schools students would tend to have similar problem, the finding still provide some useful and reliable information, due to inadequate finance and time factors, the researcher was unable to carry out the research in all the schools but have to select some few believed that the selected schools will yield good result for generalization.

 1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS.

       I.            Performance: This refers to the outcome, the experience the students are expected to attain in the course of studying mathematics.

    II.            Influence: it refers to the effect that is created on somebody the way a person, causing a change in his thinking or behaviour.

 III.            Mathematics teaching is the process of transferring or imparting mathematics knowledge, facts and skills from one person to another or group of persons. It is a complete process which involves the provision of mathematical experience and activities designed to promote learning on the part of those engaged in these activities.

1. Qualification: Is a skill or type of experience that you need for a particular job or activity.

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